Portion of Poplar Tree Road to be Closed Off Temporarily

A portion of Poplar Tree Road, which connects Centreville to Chantilly, will be closed off once school closes, officials say.

Residents who live along that part of the road will be allowed through. The portion that will be closed off extends from Braddock Ridge Drive to Sully Park Drive. The plan is to reopen by the time school begins again in the fall. 

Sections of  this summer as the current road is widened from two lanes to four. Concerns about the project from residents were raised at a Town Hall meeting with VDOT and the Department of Public Works, hosted by Sully District Supervisor Michael Frey on Monday night. Frey said that he had called the meeting together in part because people were calling his office with questions. 

Traffic usually jams in the two-lane road right around rush hour in part due to overflow from Route 28—which makes local traffic a hassle for residents. Some drives that should only be a few minutes long can easily turn into a 20-minute ordeal at the height of rush hour. However, some neighbors have voiced concerns that the road is being widened for the benefit of people who do not live in the area. But Frey said that he thinks the road would have to be widened anyway.

"There are thousands of people who use Stone Road to get to ; not everyone uses it as cut-through," he said, adding that he doesn't think there will be additional spillover from Route 28 once four lanes are added. 

"Most of the traffic is local traffic," he said. "It's been on the plan for 25 years to make it four lanes." 

It will take one full year to complete the entire project of widening the road. 

Other points raised at the meeting:

• Many were concerned not only about the possibility of more traffic, but more drivers speeding. One resident said that there was a history of high-speed drivers crashing through yards in the area. Frey acknowledged the concern and said traffic is the single biggest complaint brought to his office. He noted that anyone can request police presence in their area. 
• The existing lanes will be raised two inches and the trail next to the road by four.
• Residents whose fences were torn down as part of the construction wanted to know if the replacements would be the same height. Officials said they would. 
• Some were also concerned about the possibility of more trucks driving on the road. Frey said that while police are trying to enforce the ban against trucks using the road as a cut-through, it's hard to enforce because they have to follow the trucks from beginning to their end destination. Local trucks making deliveries to places like Giant are allowed through, he said.